Lighting attachment for telephones



Oct. 14, 1941. w BURKHART 2,259,148

LIGHTING ATTACHMEN'I FOR TELEPHONES Filed Dec. 4, 1939 INVENTOR. WILLIAM L. BURKHART.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIGHTING ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES William L. Burkhart, Cleveland, Ohio Application December 4, 1939, Serial No. 307,451

' 3 Claims. (01. 240-217) I This invention relates to a lighting attachment for telephones, more particularly telephones of the dial type. In the latter forms of construction, the user, in dialing, is usually required to select at least six indicia, each from a group of characters visible through an opening having a size approximating the space occupied by such group. Accordingly, to avoid mistakes in dialing, the area surrounding the telephone must be adequately lighted or otherwise rays of light must be projected through the dial openings. In many instances, telephones are so located, particularly in residences, that special lighting fixtures must be provided to facilitate dialing and the lamps employed are usually of a high wattage type, so that an undue amount of current is utilized to effect a dialing operation.

One object of my invention is to provide an improved lighting attachment for a dial type of telephone so mounted and arranged thereon that light rays may be projected directly upon the dial and the rays from the light source are substantially shielded from the user. This arrangement is advantageous as it eliminates the expense of installing special fixtures and flooding of a large space with light is avoided. Accordingly, the attachment may be advantageously used where the telephone is located in a bedroom and an outgoing call is made at night, as the dial may be lighted for operation without flooding the room with light rays.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved lighting attachment for a dial telephone, so arranged and constructed that the user, when positioned for dialing, may turn on and off the light without altering his position.

Another object of the invention is to provide for a dial operated telephone an improved lighting attachment so constructed that it may be readily positioned on the telephone in operative relation to the dial and removed without the use of tools, clamps, spring clips and other securing devices.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved attachment of this character that is relatively simple in construction, comprises few parts, and capable of ready positioning on the telephone and removal therefrom when repairs to the telephone are necessary.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which my in-' vention relates from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein having attached thereto a lighting device embodying my invention.

Fig. -2 is a side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a view partly in plan and partly in section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3, but removed from the telephone.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section on the 'line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a view on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

In the drawing, l indicates as an entirety, a telephone comprising a base 2, having an upwardly projecting body portion 3, which carries front and rear pairs of up-standing spaced lugs or arms 4, 4'.

In the construction of telephone shown merely for illustrative purposes, the arms 4, 4', are mounted directly on the body portion instead of on a cross member which in turn is connected to the body portion by a central column.

The arms 4, 4', form a cradle for the central portion of a receiver and transmitter indicated as an entirety at 5, the weight of which when positioned as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, depresses a pin or pair of pins (one being shown at 6) to disconnect the circuit from the receiver and transmitter 5. The front wall of the body portion 3 is inclined upwardly and supports a dial 1 which carries the indicating characters or groups of characters and a rotatable disk 8 spaced from the dial 1 and formed with the usual openings 8'. While the accompanying drawing shows but one character on the dial 1 in relation to each opening 8' in the disk 8, in large populated communities it is usual to pro- Vide for each opening a group of characters consisting of three letters of the alphabet and a number.

9 indicates as an entirety the lighting attachment comprising a casing 10 and an attaching means ll secured to the rear side of the casing Ill. The casing I0 is of a size, to accommodate between its top and bottom walls the desired number (one or more) of small standard sized dry batteries l2 horizontally and parallel to the cradle; where two or more batteries are employed they are arranged in sid-e-by-side relation and preferably connected in series, as later set forth.

-The front portion of the casing is extended forwardly, as shown at Illa, to provide a mounting for a suitable bulb l3 and circuit closing devices. The bottom wall of the extended portion Illa is formed with an opening and the metal Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a dial telephone around the opening i expanded inwardly and formed with screw threads, as shown at Hi, to form a socket for the threaded base of the bulb 13, the inner end of the base being in position for engagement with a circuit closing device l5, electrically connected to the positive side of the outer-most battery l2. As the casing l forms one side of the circuit, I provide between the side v walls of the casing and the device [5 and opposite ends of the batteries 12, strips of suitable insulation material l6, it, which extend along the side walls forming the opposite ends of the casing l0, the strip i6 being extended along the front side wall of the casing beyond the socket- I4. By preference, the inner end of the device I5 is folded over and clamped to a section 11 of insulation material which in turn is riveted to the insulation strip l6 and the adjacent side wall of the casing, whereby the strip I6 and device |5 are held in position in the casing l0. l8 indicates a spacer interposed between the nega tive end of the inner-most battery [2 and the insulation strip Hi, this spacer being preferably 8-shaped and formed of resilient-metal. l9 indicates a conductor extending between the positive end of the inner-most battery l2 and negative end of the outermost battery H. The conductor I9 is substantially U-shaped and its intermediate portion is riveted, as shown at 20, to a section of insulation material 2|, which in turn is riveted, as shown at 22, to the adjacent strip 16'. The conductor I9 is formed of resilient material and its end portions are ofi-set so as to yieldingly engage the batteries and normally tend to move them toward th opposite end of the casing in, thereby insuring electrical contact of the positive end of the outermost battery 12 with the device IS. The conductor l9 may be arranged to maintain the inner-most battery [2 against the opposite end of the casing ID, in which arrangement the spacer l8 may be omitted to reduce the number of parts therein. The circuit closing devic I5 consists of a resilient strip of conducting material, such as copper, the outer end portion of which is normally disposed above and in spaced relation to the contact on the inner'end of'the light bulb base, so that when-such end portion is flexed into engagement with this contact, the circuit is completed through the filament of the bulb. The device for flexing the de- Vice [5 to close the circuit preferably consists of a screw 22, which when turned in one direction operates the device 15 into engagement with the contact on the bulb base to close the circuit and when turned in the opposite direction permits the device l5, due to its resiliency, to disengage the contact and thus shut on the light. The-screw 22' is threaded through a threaded opening formed in a bushing 23, formed of suitable insulation material and mounted in the top wall of the casing [0. The axis of the opening in the bushing 2'3. co-incide's with the-axis of the light bulb base, so that the screw 22' when op-,

erated efie'cts a positive engagement of the circuit closing device IS with the contact on the base and danger of the screw distorting the de- Vice [5 or moving it laterally is eliminated; The bushing may be mounted in the top wall of the casing in any desired manner. In the illustrated arrangement, this wall is formed with an opening the -marginal portion of which is pressed up to form a collar, into which the outer reduced endof the bushing is pressed, the inner enlarged end of thebushing serving to resist outward pressure thereon due to operation of the screw 22' to-close the circuit; The outer end of the screw 22' is provided with a knurled head 22, to Iacilitate its operation.

Access to the casing II) is preferably provided for by making its top wall Ill removable. For this purpose the top wall It is provided with a skirt or flange Illa along its four sides which frictionally engage the respective side walls of the casing, although I may provide any other suitable means for securing the top in position. When the top is removed all parts in the casing are accessible.

The attaching means ll consists of a bracket extending rearwardly from the casing 10, such bracket preferably being in the form of a secof sheet metal, the inner edge portion Ha of which is soldered or otherwise secured to one wall of the casing. The outer portion III) of the sheet metal section is extended laterally to 7 form spaced supporting members 24, each of which is formed with an opening 24', substantially complementary to the cross sectional shape of the arms 4' and of a size to fit thereover and engage the front and rear walls of the arms below their free ends, such engagements serving to support the casing in position above the rotatable disk 8. The front and rear walls of the arms 4 converge toward their free ends, so that the walls of th openings 2-4 readily seat thereon. Each opening 24 is formed by slitting the metal on spaced parallel lines at right angles to the wall of the casing to which the bracket l I is secured and along a line connecting the outer ends of the parallel lines, the metal between these lines being bent downwardly to form a foot 1 25 which engages the adjacent arm 4 below the opening 24' or the wall of the body portion 3 below'the adjacent arm, where, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the outer wall of the opening engages the body portion 3 at the base of the arm. By preference, the wall of the bracket along the outer side of each'opening 24 is bent downwardly to form a bar 25a engaging the inner wall of the adjacent arm 4. In this arrangement the bars 25a co-operate with the feet 25 to support the casing 10 and provide wide bearing surfaces for engagement with the walls of the arms or body portion, so that the latter are not damaged or marred. I

The feet 25 and bracket H or the bracket II and that portion of the-latter which is secured to the casing are angularly disposed, one relative to the other, so as to support the casing l!) in an upwardly inclined position to provide ample room below the casing for manipulation of the dial member 8. As the bracket I l is formed of sheet metal, the user, by means of a suitable tool, may readily bend the feet relative to the bracket H in one direction or the other, and thereby adjust the casing IE! to any desired inclinat-ion, either to increase this operating area or to position the bulb in a more eifective relation to the dialing characters and member 8.

It will be noted that my construction of lighting attachment is a self-contained unit and may,

f at will, be readily mounted in position and removed without the employment of tools or adjustment of a screw or nut; also, it is mounted in the area outwardly of the cradle for the receiver and transmitter and above the dialing member 8, so that removal and replacement of the receiver and transmitter and operation of the dial member are not interfered with and the light bulb being on the lower side of the casing l0, it projects its rays downwardly.

To those skilled in the art to which my invention relates many changes in construction and widely different embodiments and applications of the invention will be apparent without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. My disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

What I claim is:

1. A lighting attachment for a telephone having a body member forming a support for dialing devices and provided on its upper wall with front and rear pairs of up-standing arms to form a cradle for the telephone receiver, comprising a casing having a light bulb mounted in the bottom wall thereof, a source of current supply for the bulb within the casing and switch means controlling the supply of current to the bulb, and a plate extending laterally from the rear wall of said casing and having spaced outer portions formed with openings through which the upstanding arms adjacent to said dialing devices removably extend, the engagement of the inner and outer walls of said openings with said arms serving to removably support said casing over and in spaced relation to said dialing devices.

2. A light attachment for a telephone having a body member provided on its front portion with dialing devices and on its top wall with front and rear pairs of Lip-standing arms forming a cradle for the receiver and transmitter comprising a closed casing having a removable top wall, a battery within said casing, said casing being extended laterally on its" outer side, midway its end walls, to form a chamber outwardly of said battery and the bottom wall of said chamber being formed with an opening to permit the base of a light bulb to extend into said chamber, the wall of said opening serving to support the light bulb base therein and electrically connect the bulb to one side of the battery, a terminal connected at one end to the other side of said battery, the opposite end of said terminal being normally disposed in operative relation to the contact on the base of said bulb, a device movably mounted in the extended portion of said top wall for controlling the engagement of said terminal with the contact on the base of said bulb and disengagement therefrom, and a bracket carried by the inner side of said casing and extending laterally therefrom and formed with spaced openings for receiving said front pair of cradle arms, the engagement of the front and rear walls of said openings with the cradle arms serving to support said casing forwardly thereof and above said dialing devices.

3. A lighting attachment for a telephone having dialing devices and pairs of up-standing members forming a cradle for the telephone receiver, comprising a casing supporting a light bulb on its lower side and means providing for ready attachment to and detachment of said casing from one of the pair of members, said means consisting of a plate extending from the inner side of said casing, the outer lateral portions of which are formed with openings of a size and spaced to readily and removably receive the pairs of members adjacent to said dialing devices, said plate contiguous to the inner side walls of said openings being provided with depending feet, said feet and outer side walls of said openings being arranged to engage the outer and inner walls of said members to detachably support said casing over and in operative relation to the dialing devices.

WILLIAM L. BURKHART. 

